Chrysler and Windsor at the Brink

The big news in the auto sector today is the U.S Supreme Court's stay on Chrysler's sale to Fiat. With deadlines looming, the deal is looking increasingly shaky.

This is devastating news for Windsor, already ground zero in Ontario's manufacturing meltdown. There is little indication of what effect liquidation would have on Chrysler's pension obligations. And with unemployment already nearing 15% and Detroit in a state of collapse, the prospects for this manufacturing centre are particularly grim.

Competition for RIM

Canadian tech darling Research in Motion is facing the prospect of a truly competitive market in smart phones for the first time. Until now, its Blackberry has dominated the market albeit with increasing competition from Apple's iPhone.

As today's Financial Post notes, the competition is about to get a whole lot stiffer. Apple is about to release a new iPhone with an upgraded operating system, and the roll-out of Palm's Pre created a much greater stir than had been anticipated.

But the real sleeper here is Google's Android operating system. Unlike both Apple's and Palm's proprietary systems, it is open source and based on the linux OS. Android is already available on a range of phones. And it is also beginning to ship on netbooks, the hottest segment of the computer market, including an ultra-low cost 7 inch notebook.

A bet against Google is a fools bet.

This is not only bad news for RIM. The manufacturing sector in southern Ontario has been decimated, and RIM and the high tech community that has grown up around it in the Kitchener-Waterloo region have been an important bright spot. Seeing this dimished now would be particularly difficult.